Four Weddings and a Couple of Births
by LusciousNesha
Summary: In the AFAECS Series AU Glee Universe. Each Evans has found their person and started building their own families within the Evans clan. These are the Evans ceremonies and events that you missed in between Do You See What Eye See and Eye Can See Clearly Now. Chapters are presented in chronological order of how they happen in the story's timeline. Featuring Evans' romantic partners.
1. Chapter 1

_I would like to dedicate this short story to Sweetiedee and Belladuke. Y'all keep me moving forward. With y'all in my corner, I may be able to finish these stories. Thank you for continued support, empathy and sisterly love._

 _ **Four Weddings and a Couple of Births 01**_

 _ **Cheri and Stevie * Valentine's Day Theme Wedding * Feb 15-2014**_

She wasn't really showing yet, but she certainly was feeling the pregnancy probs and the stress of the day made it even harder. She put her family in a special section - a section blocked off with stanchions and red ropes, so that none of them could move about and make any type of trouble. She had a white aisle runner on the floor of the ballroom that she had rented out for the occasion, which practically blended in with the floor, but that wouldn't matter when her red carpet was rolled out. Jane, Stacie, Mercedes and Mama T were with her up until it was their turns to get out there.

Her father felt slighted that she wanted Dwight to bring her down the aisle, like he had done Mercy (and Sam) at their in the woods wedding. She'd missed that because she was tied up with cheer camp, but the photos and videos were lovely and she wanted everything for her special day to be perfect.

She explained to Champ, yet again that she was closer to Dwight and that he didn't even have to come, if he felt like he couldn't celebrate with her. He'd made some comment about Dwight "gifting both of his sons with black trophies," and she decided then that if he DID come to the wedding; he, her mother, her grandparents and any other Robinsons or Waymyers that they might try to slide in with them would not be allowed to move freely, bothering guests and most of all - her and Stevie.

Dwight asked, "Are you feelin' alright? Having second thoughts?"

"Would that make you happy?" She asked.

He shook his head, "That wouldn't make _anybody_ happy. Stevie'd burn the building down, most likely with all of us inside. What's wrong?" She was closer to Dwight, but still could never tell if he really approved of her, or not. She often got the sense that he felt stuck with her and just tolerated her. It saddened her a little bit - that she chose this man who probably just puts up with her to walk her down the aisle, because her own father barely even did that her whole life.

"I'm ready. I want this. That's not the thing. There is no doubt in my mind that I love Stevie and want to spend the rest of my life with him. This is a physical issue. My belly is bubbling, my womb is gurgling, my loins are turning flips."

"Like stagefright?"

"Like pregnancy nausea!" She hissed, then held herself.

He smiled, understandingly. "Need some crackers or something?"

"That's your response? Not - 'so you ARE pregnant again, you irresponsible baby-making machine'?"

"Nish has been pretty adamant that you are, so I was just waiting to see if you were ever gonna confirm that or prove her wrong, for once. You're getting married. You're an adult. You and Stevie live on your own. You can make however many babies your little body can tolerate, as far as I care."

"For what it's worth, I was trying not to get pregnant. Stevie should see a doctor. I think his sperm is hyperactive."

Dwight laughed and nodded his head, "Men in my family usually are pretty fertile. Gene missed me and Sammy, I guess. Though, to be fair - I didn't have a lot of intimacy with my ex wife, so I don't know if maybe that's why it took us 8 years between kids and I certainly was barely touching her after the twins. They drove her… two at once was a lot for her and I wasn't very helpful at that time." He looked off into space, going somewhere that Cheri was curious about visiting.

"Papa Dwight… Stevie talks about your family a lot. I understand his viewpoints when he feels like bad stuff happened to him and I even understand when he feels like you didn't love him a lot. But, I'm glad that you could be here for this. Thank you for everything you've done for me and for Cowboy while Stevie was gone and thank you for today. I don't know if your kids express to you enough appreciation. They don't know what it's like to have TWO parents that you can't really depend on for anything, so they might take whatever helpfulness that you _did_ give for granted."

He smiled and pulled her in for a hug. Kurt peeked inside and said, "We're about to release the carpet." She quickly rushed to grab her bouquet and latch on to Dwight's arm as Kurt and Blaine rolled out a red carpet, then went to their seats, out of the way.

They'd come in Stacie/Sam, Mason/Jane, Marley/Mercy, holding Heaven, as he was still very young and small, Joe/Tanisha and were followed by the "Flower Fairies."

The Flower Fairies was a big stroller, decorated with red, pink, and white flowers, holding the twins Sherwood and Sheva, and Cowboy, pushed by Beth, with Babs near her throwing the petals, both of them with pink tutus and wings and Cheri's children all dressed in pink and white, inside of the stroller. All Beth had to do was get it from the doorway to her mother, up near the altar, and she and Rachel would make sure that the children were fine the whole ceremony.

Standing near Stevie were Stacie, Mason, Marley and Sam, in their red groom's party tuxedos. On the other side were Joe, Jane, Mercedes and Tanisha, in their white bridal tuxes. Cheri was the only one in a dress today, and had even asked in all of the correspondence leading up to that everyone wear tuxedos, suits, pant suits, slacks, etc, as to not outshine the bride and reminded everyone that the photographer is instructed not to take any photos of any persons outside of her in a dress, just as a power move, and also lowkey seriously, she did not want to see anybody but herself in a dress for this event, with the exception of the children.

When Kurt and Blaine rolled the red carpet out, Jake was next to enter, causing a little bit of laughter, some confusion, some impressed sounds, with his half and half tux - one side red and one side white, because Stevie and Cheri were splitting him as Best Man/Man of Honor and he had a ring in each pocket. He simply held his hands out to his sides with a smile as he came up the aisle and when he met Stevie with a hug he said, "She looks effing amazing."

Stevie gave him a 'duh' face, but when the music started and everyone looked to see Cheri coming in on the red carpet, with her shimmering princess gown, tiara, and holding her bouquet low enough where you could see the way the A-line made her cleavage pop but not bulge out, Stevie whispered, "Fuuuuuck." Jake laughed and nodded his head. "How did she get prettier for this? I don't understand," Stevie said, unable to even glance away. Sam rubbed him on the shoulder and looked over at his own wife, smiling out into the room, holding Heaven, in a red floral decorated holder, on her shoulder. He was looking all over the room, with wide eyes and jumped at every single sound made. She was standing close enough to where Quinn was, if he began to get fussy and they had to sit him aside, but Cheri didn't want Mercy to have to part ways with her bundle just to be in her wedding and felt it was even more special because Mercedes had a baby bouquet to march in with. "She's so fucking beautiful," Stevie's whisper brought Sam out of his wife gazing as Cheri and Dwight made it to them. Stevie rushed to Cheri and took her and kissed her and the officiant playfully said, "Hey, young man… That comes later!" Stevie jumped and nodded. Of course it did! "Sorry," he told him. He winced and whispered, "Don't be mad at me," to Cheri. But, she was smiling and trying not to cry. This was the best that she had felt all day. She looked at flowers that Stevie was holding, "What… are those?" He looked down at them like he had only just noticed them and then gave them to her.

"I realized at the bachelor party that I never gave you flowers before and I didn't wanna start a marriage that way, especially because I grew up seeing my mama get flowers a lot. It's like… saying to you that I care more about seeing you smile than seeing nature mind it's own business and live unbothered."

She laughed and accepted the pink tulips from him, then handed her bouquet to Mama T. She'd prefer to hold these sweet little tulips than the expensive arrangement that she ordered.

People were going to have to stop trying to convince her that she couldn't do certain things - like have a Valentine's Day themed wedding, with red, pink and white hearts and such. They claimed it would be tacky, but she wanted what she wanted and loved how it turned out. They told her that she _couldn't_ ask guests not to wear dresses and gowns… How? On her day? She had done it and the few people who didn't listen were kindly told at the door that they were not within the dresscode, by a bouncer, like at an upscale nightclub. They insisted that she couldn't put Stevie in a pink tux, and she cackled, looked at him and asked, "You're wearing whatever I say, right?" And he shrugged his shoulders, and looked _delicious_ in that goddamned pink tux, on this day.

Both most of all, what they used to say - that she wouldn't be a wife, wouldn't be a mother, couldn't find or keep a man, couldn't build a family… She laughed with joy at all of the proving wrong that she was doing today, and all on camera, no less, openly admitting the fears and worries and showing everyone that despite those, she had become a Missus.

That wasn't everyone's goal and many women felt like they didn't need a man or didn't want one. That was fine for them. She had a man and he liked it enough to put a ring on it.

.

Mason, Jane, and Jake spent most of the reception dancing, in between cake, speeches, traditional reception observances and whatnot. Stevie wasn't much of a dancer. He hadn't even wanted to do that "First Dance," but it was just slowly moving in a circle and staring at Cheri be the most beautiful that he had ever seen her and be shocked all over again that _even she_ had an 'upgrade' setting.

This had been her day. She had so many plans of what she wanted to happen and they worked really hard, as a family to make it come together. He wished that she felt better. "Hey, how are you?" He asked as she checked on the twins, in the stroller, near their table. Cowboy was out there dancing with Babs, Beth and Rachel. Mama T had Dwight, Shelby, Rhadja, Champ, Aphasia and Matt standing around her telling some kind of story and all at once they all roared with laughter, along with her. Mercedes and her crew were at their table, passing the baby along, as this was his first time really out of the house and they all wanted their share. Kurt and Blaine insisting that they needed some, now.

She smiled and said, "Everything is perfect right now. My parents and yours are laughing together. Jake and my friends are dancing. Our child has other child friends to spend time with. I have a family now, officially and friends, real ones. Just a couple of years ago, my own parents didn't even show up to wish me a happy 16th, and today I got to marry the _one_ person who did show up for me…"

He sniffled and wiped away a tear, casually. "I will never ask you how you are in public, again." She laughed and beckoned him with her finger for a kiss. He stared at her up close. Still amazed… "I didn't really care about a marriage license, or a wedding, or being a husband or having a wife. Even when I proposed, I kinda did it just because I knew that you wanted it. But, I can't, at this moment imagine ever having a life where you're not my partner, and I'm really happy that I made this decision. I don't know. When the dude said that you're now my wife… Something just awakened. I was just like - it's official. This woman is really yours, on paper, in spirit or whatever… before God and everybody, y'all just said we've got each other's backs for as long as we live. I didn't think that was a powerful declaration. It is, though. Now I know that." He watched the room, too. Now, Stacie and Joe were dancing with Mason, Jane and Jake, and Sam was with the older folks, the center of attention now, with Mama T laughing at whatever he was saying and pushing him on the chest as she did. " _We've_ got a family now, Babe. A real one. And real friends _and_ each other…"

Aphasia and Matt came over to the table and Aphasia gave Cheri a hug, "How are you, Lil' Mama?"

"I'm good. Thank you for coming!"

"You know, Rutherfords and Robinsons…" She glanced at Stevie, fought rolling her eyes and looked back to Cheri, "Last time I saw you, you were in bad shape. I HAD to see you doing well and you look beautiful. You're glowing. Be blessed, Black Woman. Best wishes." Phai squeezed her shoulder and Matt patted the same shoulder, as they headed out.

"Did you invite them?" Stevie asked.

Cheri nodded, "Um, yeah. They got me out of a mental institution that I was unlawfully put inside of!"

"I know. I just… I didn't know that they were friends, or whatever. They didn't even acknowledge _me."_

"It's not like you ever have to really see them much." She moved in for another kiss, then grabbed his hand, "Our friends are all dancing. This is _our_ party!"

"Can I just stand there and you kinda dance in circles around me?"

"That's literally the description of every dance that we have ever danced!" She laughed and pulled his hand to the center of their circle and she and Jane immediately got in step doing some dance that Stevie wasn't familiar with while Mason and Jake watched for a moment and quickly got on board too.

Stevie pulled out his phone and began recording her as he narrated, "So… Whoever you are, there's your mom, and you're here too, in there. In case you're wondering what we're doing… Your mama just made me the happiest that I have ever been in my entire life…"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Four Weddings and a Couple of Births 02**_

 _ **08-30-14 Steerio's Last Twins**_

The most current filming of the reality series had ended, and Cheri was grateful not to be on camera all of the time anymore. If people thought that she was a "bridezilla," wait until they saw "momzilla." She was like bridezilla, but with more hormones and twice the anxiety.

Since Jane had her babies this way, the McCarthys had experience and referenced the midwife and the doula for their friends. Now, they were all present, to lend help wherever they could, but Cheri wasn't really open for much help at the moment. She had been walking around in a thin, practically see through short nightie, pacing around the birthing pool, waiting on Stevie to return with something that he was supposed to secure earlier.

In the nursery, Mason and Jake tried to keep the other children calm and happy. Cheri had said, "The Manny and the Househusband can stay with the kids," initially, causing a couple of sour looks from both and asked, "Oh, I'm sorry… Should I call you two something else?"

"Names work," Jake reminded her.

Mason offered, "I'm fine being referred to either!" He was trying to keep her upbeat, as it was obvious that she was tense. Jake was just ready for her to come forth with these babies so that their house could get some peace again… Or… Whatever. Five small children wasn't a recipe for peace; but Cheri's mood needed serious adjustment.

Cheri was frustrated and a little frantic. She loved being a mother. She _hated_ giving birth. The first time was a breeze. She'd only bothered her bad knee a little bit and whenever she was done with the hard labor, she had this boy, this replica of the love she had lost, but more like a blend of what theyt had shared together - something that she thought at the moment she would never get back and something that she knew that she would always miss. She would look at this boy and she would see all of the beautiful things that went into making him, and try to forget all of the things that made it too hard for his father to want them.

It got worse last time. Her knee needed to be popped back into place afterwards and walking on it hurt for weeks. She could hardly sleep, couldn't take adequate pain pills because, breastfeeding and her whole entire trauma related obsession with having to be able to do so, and whenever she did sleep; the kids did not seem to agree on a sleep schedule that vibed together.

She hoped that maybe it would be better this time, because she would be standing in water instead of laying back with her legs up. But, just the thought of the pain and remembering how hard it had been when Sherwood and Sheva came, the hours it took and the sharp knee pain; she kept almost having panic attacks just anticipating it.

The modulation of hormones and required psychotropic medicine moderation, and the work it took to balance things without any harm to her unborn made for an unstable Cheri, ergo made for an unstable house. Childless Stacie and Jake sometimes dodged being at home to avoid it. Jane, Mason and Stevie understood a little better, especially factoring in Cheri's other uncontrollable characteristics.

Soothing candles were lit. Joe had anointed the room, Jane was going wherever needed, Stacie was staying near Cheri, just in case and Stevie was on his way.

Cheri was so annoyed that he had forgotten this. She reminded him multiple times to go pick it up and he kept pushing it off. (Which, if she thought about it was understandable, seeing as how he was up usually when she was to check on her, see to her, help her out and whatever else she needed.) Now, he was at Mercedes and Sam's house picking it up, and she was stressed that she was going to end up dropping this kid off in the pool (she laughed to herself at the intended pun) without him!

Stevie came running in with a CD lifted in his hand and she bounced up and down clapping her hands. Mason leaned in to Jake and asked, "Can you remind me again why this is a CD and not just uploaded online to a playlist or something?"

Jake said, "Mercedes makes CDs. She's not quite ready to learn new computer things yet. Takes her a while longer, because she can't read the prompts, so I think she's waiting for them to become completely obsolete before doing so."

"Doesn't… Jane help her with computer things, though?"

"Look, I'm just here to Manny." Mason snickered.

Cheri gave Stevie a hug and snatched it to go play it.

Jane looked over at the CD player when Mercedes' voice began singing a gospel song that she wasn't familiar with. "What is this, again?"

Stevie said, "A CD full of Mercedes covering black gospel songs, some featuring her church choir."

Cheri said, "She made it specially for me, because I said that her singing helps me feel better, because Stacie got me on that by calling her to get her to sing a song, whenever I got out and we were… recovering. So this way, we didn't have to do that and she didn't have to try to figure out a song on a call's notice. I have some others, but I requested a special one for this birthing. SO, she made this one specifically for when I want to call on God and have no words because my faith relationship is on and off, back and forth…" She waved her hands to get everyone to quiet down and just grooved to the music until it was time for her to get into the pool.

.

Stevie looked tired. He had been in the pool with her to give her all the support that she needed. Everyone that was there was so helpful. It wasn't nearly as hectic as it had seemed whenever she had the other twins. She mentioned that if they had kids in the future, she was doing this from now on and recommended that Stacie do it too, causing her sister-in-law to blush at even the thought of all of this. She wanted to have her husband, maybe Cheri, Mercedes and medical professionals there. A full room while she was vulnerable and exposed seemed excessive and improper.

This was a whole gathering, and it was less than last time, when _every_ Evans, both Puckermans, and the Robinsons were all there, coming in and out, crowding the place, and Kurt calling Stacie every few minutes to ask if they were there yet, as at the time, she had been working at Magic Mirror and gotten very close and cool with him.

But, on this day, not only was it just Cheri and Stevie's "nearest and dearest," but in her home, where she was most comfortable, and this time, instead of being pushed aside and seemingly forgotten, Cheri reached out for Stacie and said, "Hey, Sis… Come meet them…" Stacie rushed to see the wet, shivering babies that the midwife and doula were handling while Stevie helped Cheri out of the pool.

Cheri was babbling, "We said that we were gonna alternate with "St" names and "Sh" names. We did Stefan and then Sherwood and Sheva, and so these should be back to "St," but… I am hoping that I never have another baby. Motherhood is my jam, but pregnancy gets harder every time. Cowboy barely bothered me. The first twins did. _These_ twins were fighting like Jacob and Esau. I ought to name them Jacob and Esau."

"One of these has a vagina," Stevie said (instead of 'is a girl,' to avoid her complaining that a vagina didn't mean it was a girl).

"That one can be Jacob," she said, as he dried her off with his lips pursed. He helped her to bed and Stacie and Jake came in helping by carrying the newest twins.

Jake said, "Here's Jacob," as he gave them Charmaine, and Stevie just glared at him. Stacie chuckled and handed Sterling to his mother, as well.

Stevie climbed into bed and cradled up with the three of them, "Sooo… Where are we gonna stash all of these babies at bedtime?"

Cheri laughed, "Excuse me? You mean where will you sleep now?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, " _I_ was joking, but _you_ seem serious."

"Well, the twins aren't ready to go to their cribs, yet and these twins surely won't be."

"How can you put four babies in a bed and think that they won't accidentally smother each other?"

"I guess that we'll have to sleep in shifts," she said. He looked at her like he could tell that she wasn't joking and he did not approve. "I'm joking," she said. "I will just make sure not to sleep if they're asleep."

"That's unhealthy and exhausting. They have cribs."

"For later, when they're ready!"

"But… How more ready do they need to be? We have new ones, now. They'll _have to_ be ready, now," he said.

"Look, with just two titties, I gotta feed four babies, and still have time for my moody two year old, because he now has four smaller humans to divide his time with us with. I am not getting up fifteen times in one night for five small children who are sprinkled all around the house."

"I mean… I can pull the cribs in here and have them by the bed, so the trip isn't far. Cowboy sleeps in his nursery fine. Maybe it might even be better not to have him stuck with them so if they do wake up, he won't be disturbed?"

"That sounds fine, but they're really going to probably just be in our bed, though."

He nodded, "Okay." _This will be a nightly fight, if it has to be…_

After he moved the twins' cribs into their bedroom, he said, "Everybody's trying to figure out what to put on their posts. Mason just put 'Jacob and Esau,' because we live in a world where that could realistically be their names." Cheri cackled as Stevie pulled out his phone to look at their current list.

"We have Shelly, Sharae, Charlotte, Cheyanne and Cheryl for the girl if she came out first, which she did. And for the boy we have Stark, Stokely, Stanthony? What?"

"Yeah, yeah - because I was watching all of those Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie interviews and I ship them."

"Isn't their little name Stackie, though?"

"That didn't sound like a decent name for a child."

"But… Stanthony did?"

" _I_ like it."

"Naw."

"You only read 3. We had 5, didn't we?"

"Well, we have 4, because Stanthony - I refuse to do that to any child of mine. The last one is Starchild, which I also refuse, I must say. Did you switch these out while I was sleep or something?" She laughed. "Stanthony," he scoffed.

"I like Stokely," she said. "Stokely and I don't know… I don't like any of the girl names anymore. She just doesn't look like any of those, right?"

Stevie came forward and got back into the bed, "She looks like she might be a Charlotte."

"I think she looks more like, I don't know… A Charmaine?"

"That's cute. Anything is cuter than Jacob, for her."

"Sooo… Charmaine and Stokely?"

"Do those go together well?" She asked. "Charmaine and Stokely. Stokely and Charmaine. Charmaine and Stanthony…" He made a face. "Charmaine and Sterling? Was that one? I like it. Charmaine and Sterling…"

"That wasn't one, but it works."

"The next one can be Stanthony."

"Shut up!"

They both laughed, but she abruptly stopped, "But seriously, if your juggernaut sperm finds it way to creating another one, I'm calling him, her or them Stanthony. Let that be your motivation."

"To what? Kill my sperm?"

"Clip it or something!"

He flinched, "No. I don't think I will be doing that. I'll sooner not give you any of this, than do that."

She howled, "You'se a goddamned lie!"

He cackled as well, admitting, "I am _currently_ setting up my calendar to see when I can hit it again and planning sitters and shit for that night."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Four Weddings and a Couple of Births 03**_

 _ **Joe and Stacie get married in the mountains. May 30-2015**_

She described the theme as "Bohemian Rustic Ambience." She planned, planted, produced, and prayed. She made most of her decorations, by hand, personally. She grew her flowers. She did most of the labor for all of the things that needed to be done. It wasn't because nobody was willing to help her. It was more like… Everything that they tried to do to help her - she just trusted herself to do more. She couldn't understand how other brides just hired people to do stuff. For one thing - wedding expenses were steeper than for the same work on other events - likely because they KNOW you're willing to pay to have everything perfect. Stacie decided to just pay with her time and energy.

She had run out of space in her garden, and borrowed Sam's yard, POM's garden area, Stevie's yard, and a few other spaces, as well.

Dwight had built her a few wooden things that she needed, had chopped some wood for her, as well, while Tanisha just observed with a glass of lemonade and made impressed noises that made Stacie uncomfortable.

Joe did most of the administrative planning portion. The organizing, procuring the permit, all the paperwork and so forth. He was simply better at that part than she was. So technically, Joe did the planning and she did the preparing...

 _ **Actually… Let's rewind to April 18, 2014...**_

 _Joe preached and finished what he had been describing as his last Good Friday Sermon at his grandfather's church and was brought back up to the pulpit for closing words, after the Invitation to Discipleship._

" _As you all know, I am going to be leaving this church, which I actually love, but I am going to be helping my dear friend, Sam Evans establish his church and if our goals turn out right, by this time next year, we will at least have a tent in the lot where the church is being built. But, I didn't invite you here or come up here to plug my new church church. I actually just want to share some words about my wonderful…" he held his hand out towards Stacie and she smiled as people cheered and smiled and looked at her. "Stacie Evans. She's more than a friend, more than a girlfriend. She's been walking beside me now for more than a year, improving my life in the most beautiful and refreshing ways and thinking that it's me that's you know, making her better…" ("He does," she tells nearby guests.)_

" _If I have time, I want to just give Stacie her flowers, while she's here; because we all know that life is short and if anybody has seen evidence first hand, she has. She's lost a lot and seen a lot and of all of the people around me, she's remained the most positive and upbeat. She trusts God through everything and praises Him, in spite of all of the stuff she's had to live with. Now, she tells me that before we got together, she had a crush on me. Which, of course, I would need to be told this thing, because I have zero intuition about that sort of thing. I am clueless._

 _Before we dated, I had only ever asked out two other people. When I was very young and a few years later. And, let me just explain - I've always been a church boy. I've been here my entire my and I didn't do the whole teen dating, high school sweethearts or any of that, so as far as asking dates goes, I have this method. It is not real smooth, but I've executed it with confidence all three times._

 _I greet her politely, I express my interest, then I immediately clarify that I don't casual date and that this first date would be me in the process of assessing my date for a future marriage._

 _The first girl laughed immediately, to the point of tears, cleared her throat, fixed her hair and said, "I guess that we're meant to just be friends." The second lady said, "I don't even like you enough to GO on a date with you.," but she wished me good luck on that. It was years before I even put myself out that way again, and when I finally did, where most women I'm friends with already know that I didn't plan on ever dating unless it was looking forward to marriage, Stacie and I hadn't spoken about things like that. We were friends, but not like that. So, I of course had to give her my little confident lines, and truth be told, this was the time that I was the most nervous. I was like, "This woman's gonna tell you to take your dreads and leave this establishment…" Instead, she said, "Well duh, numbskull - that's what I'm doing too." (So, I'm paraphrasing)... Stacie awkwardly laughed in the audience._

 _I asked her out, because I realized how short life is. We were, as you all know present for a mass shooting. Some of you know that wasn't even the first shooting that I found myself in the crossfire of. The first time, it wasn't a consideration, but the second time, I knew her and I respected her and cared about her._

 _Life is short and I've found that out over the years, (shootings, battles) and when I spend time with Stacie, we're having the real conversations, talking about the things that most people don't even bring up until they've gotten engaged or married. And I fell more in love with her as a woman than I've been in love with her even as a friend! And there's no doubt in my mind that I want to spend the rest of my life with this woman," he pointed right at Stacie and she gasped and grabbed Cheri and Mercedes' hands._

" _With that being said, we've got all this family here today - my family, her family, some extended family that hopefully enjoyed the sermon and put a little change in the collection plate. I called everyone to invite them here to see this sermon, but honestly, I mostly called them here because I'm not only on fire for the Lord, but I'm on fire for Stacie and since I have all of you here, I'd love for all of you to be a part of this._

" _A part of what?" Stacie asked, unable to tear her widened eyes away from him._

" _Stacie Joan Evans…" He walked from the pulpit to where she was on the front row, nervously bouncing and waiting, unable to take her eyes off of him while the rest of the room cheered over his voice. Whenever Joe got down on one knee, she burst into tears and kept crying, despite just nodding her head, not even able to hear his question, but knowing that her answer was yes._

 _Later, he told her, "I was honestly just praying that this huge public declaration wasn't going to blow up in my face and that you would simply say yes."_

 _ **As a matter of fact, let's briefly go a little further back, to April 1, 2014…**_

 _Joe had called every single member of their families, himself and asked them if it would be possible for them to show up to preach his last Good Friday Sermon at his grandfather's church. It was extremely important to him that they come, but he would understand if they couldn't. Unfortunately, several of these conversations began with him having to convince them that this wasn't an April Fool's Day joke… "I'm not really sure how this joke would play out. I trick you into thinking that I have a sermon in a couple of weeks and then what? You show up at my church and I'm not there? Does it even count at that point, because that's not on April 1st… Or do I just say SIKE while we're on the phone and neither of us laugh, because that would be a rather anticlimactic prank, don't you agree?"_

 _But, after he had finally contacted everyone, Stacie peeked in to his home office and wondered, "Were you pranking people today? I have like so many messages asking me if you're really preaching your last Good Friday at your grandfather's church this month…"_

" _Why do they think that's a joke?"_

" _I don't know. It'd be quite anticlimactic, right?"_

" _Precisely!"_

 _ **Ok, now, back to the mountains…**_

Stevie and Cheri had come in the RV, while Dwight and Tanisha arrived early to bring in supplies and help set up, and Sam showed up with Mercy and Heaven in their minivan a while later. Stevie and Dwight had been working while Tanisha and Cheri watched the kids and Sam brought Mercedes to them before going to find the rest of his family.

He saw Dwight and Stevie setting up barrels and asked, "Can I help?"

"Stacie has been very particular about where she wants stuff, so check with her for any instructions."

Sam found Stacie and Joe, setting up some basin with water and he called out, "How are my faves?" Stacie gasped and rushed over to give him a hug. "Y'all are… working at your own wedding?"

"Have you met us?" Stacie asked.

"But, you don't have on your clothes, yet, is there a changing station, here? Is there a bathroom? What is this place?"

"There is a little lodge a ways up the road, but this is my dress," she said. He looked at her for a while and realized two things - it _was_ white and it had some type of sort of formal chainmail something or another on the back.

"I suppose that this shouldn't surprise me, but I expected you to girly it up more."

"Don't be old-fashioned, Sammy. We've got our focus on God, each other and nature. This is like my Garden of Eden. So, be glad that I'm covered."

.

After everything was set up, the open roof cabin was open for guests to come in, while the reception site arranged outside, in the open. Of course, the Hart preachers handled the officiating, and Joe had Artie as his best man, with Shane, Sam, Mike, as groomsmen.

Stacie had Mercedes as her maid of honor, Cheri, Stevie and Jake as her bridesmaid and "bridesmen," as Stevie kept referring to himself. Joe's grandmother had knitted white ponchos for all of the guys and Stacie had told all of the ladies to just wear something white that they had and she was going to adorn with with flowers when they got there. Joe's mother had insisted that Stacie let her take care of the favors, and wound up making many jars of homemade jam. Tanisha had found heart shaped wooden sheets in the craft section while waiting for Dwight at the home improvement store and asked Stacie if she could get them for an advice box, which Stacie loved the idea of and welcomed it.

So, even though she thought that she needed to do everything herself, whenever she needed them, everyone in her life came to her assistance. She couldn't be happier to be adding to her family, and being added to another one! A growing family was proof that everyone was being nurtured and getting nutrition. As she and Joe, surrounded by God's beautiful nature and all of the friends and family that He had blessed her with made their vows, tied their knot, and exchanged their rings, they took what Joe called a "fellowship walk," while the rest of the guests moved outside to the reception area.

Joe and Stacie walked around and talked about how they felt about how the ceremony went and since they hadn't made time for it before, explained stuff like… "I don't want you to shove cake in my face," Stacie tole him. "That seems like a waste of cake and while we spoke about how to handle various not likely to happen situations with our future kids, I never told you not to shove cake in my face today."

"Deal breaker!" Joe said jokingly. She laughed and they headed back to where they had to cut the cake and all that jazz.

Dwight and many of the Evans and some of Mary's family were doing a lot of talking, and Tanisha found Stacie, finally by herself and approached, "Hey, when I arrived here, I said - there is no way that they're going to make a nice event out of a hippy commune, but you did! And you got him to cut his hair!"

She laughed and said, "No, he had decided that he would cut it when he got married, before I ever came around, but he let me cut it for him. I think I did okay."

"You make things beautiful. I know that you probably wish that you had your mom here today and I'm sorry that you don't. She would have been so happy and proud to see you do this all yourself and still do all of that subservient kind of stuff, too. The foot washing thing… I was not prepared for. I have never seen that before. But, it was lovely. Everything is lovely."

"Thank you, Mama T."

"What are you going to do with all of this stuff?"

"Probably repurpose it, or upcycle, you know… Make other stuff. Maybe use it in our garden or yard or at one of the shops or something."

"Do you think I could take some of the extra unused stuff?"

"Sure! Take whatever you need. That'll be helpful for us not to have to try to clear it out ourselves, after this."

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I thought I might just use some of it, you know."

"Right, but what could you possibly need any of this stuff for? You don't really decorate or anything. Are you starting a home business or something?"

"No. I thought that I could maybe, perhaps, in the spirit of today, think about, seeing how your dad feels about us… That if we were to maybe, sometime soon..." Tanisha laughed, and shook her head, "I didn't really want to bring this up today. It's _your_ day. I'll have mine, soon enough, or eventually. I just… I was thinking that when it wasn't a whole big thing I might see if your dad wanted to…"

Stacie gasped so long that Tanisha thought she might pass out.

"Don't go nowhere!" Stacie practically screamed, kicked off her sandals and took off running, barefoot. Her hat fell off of her head and she was getting dirt all over the bottom of her dress. Tanisha uncomfortably smiled at people who were turning her way in confusion and fetched the hat and showed nodded to people.

Dwight, Sam, Stevie and some others were standing around when she ran up, shouted, "Daddy!" and they all jumped and stared at her try to catch her breath. She pointed out towards Tanisha, who was shrinking away, towards the escarpment when she noticed Stacie pointing, "Mama T...She wants to get married." She could hardly breathe, but Dwight heard her as clearly as day. "She didn't… say that… But… She…" Joe handed Stacie a cup of water and she gulped it down and said, "I'm not quite there with the you getting remarried kinda thing, but I know how ya are, and if that woman asks you to marry her, even if you want to, you're gonna feel weird about her asking, so… If you're trying to wife up Mama T, you'd better make your move first." Now, she exhaled big and Stevie turned to Jake, smiling excitedly. Jake actually looked horrified.

Dwight noticed and he laughed, nervously and beckoned him. Jake came to him as the others moved closer. After a short conversation, Dwight politely said to the rest of the group, "Y'all excuse me." But, apparently all of his offspring and Nisha's thought that he was just talking to everyone but them and followed him over to where Tanisha was.

She furrowed her eyebrows and smiled, confused, hoping that Stacie seriously had not. She handed her the hat and said through her teeth, "I was trying not to make a scene on your special day."

Stacie retorted, " _I_ made the scene." She put her hat back on and said, "And now, I'm gonna enjoy it."

Stevie nodded and said, "Me too!" Jake just watched, dumbfounded.

Dwight looked at the kids and said, "I asked y'all to excuse me!" Sam took a step back and pulled each Stevie and Stacie by their arms. But, none of them went any further away. He turned to Tanisha and said, "My daughter is under the weirdest impression."

"She's lying, I know that much," Tanisha said, shivering.

Dwight laughed. "That sounds like her," he joked.

Tanisha moved closer to him and spoke quietly, "I was simply asking her about some of her decor, because I was thinking about maybe using some of it, sometime, maybe soon. Actually, I was thinking, that because we've planned this huge gathering for your birthday, but it's not exactly on the day of your birthday that maybe we could rush and squeeze in… Look… Don't look at me like you haven't thought about this, because I know that you've probably thought about this more than I've thought about this and I was only thinking this through because I knew you had thought about it. So, yes, this plan sounds thought through, because - I will admit, I thought this through."

"Hey, Nish… Did you happen to maybe… think this through?" He teased. She turned around and started to walk off, now embarrassed and frustrated that a scene had been made and she had not prepared to have this conversation with an audience… "Nish!" He called and took her hand. She turned around and… he had a ring. She gasped and looked at him, surprised. "I was gonna ask you at that birthday party, that's why so many people were invited. I was actually following my new son-in-law's tactic."

"And you decided to just keep it in your pocket, in case a better time came along?"

"Are you disappointed that I did?"

"I am not surprised." She fought a super smile trying to form on her face.

"Well, you shouldn't be surprised by this: I ain't getting on my knees in these pants, on this ground.I'm gonna look at you face to face, make eye contact and simply ask you, _Are you ready to become my wife?"_ Jake felt Stevie's hand squeeze his arm, but he was frozen in the spot.

"I am," Tanisha said and the Evans kids all cheered and Sam quickly went around, rushing to tell people what had just happened. Stevie and Stacie hugged and then grabbed Jake for a hug too. He tried to get into the spirit of it. His mom looked really happy and that was all that he wanted for her… He also knew that she was terrible at choosing men.

He looked at Stevie's suspicious stare. "What?"

"What? Why are you so… salty?" Stevie asked.

Jake laughed, "I'm not. I'm just… I wasn't expecting this. Let's get away from this sex cabin."

Stevie laughed and said, "What?"

.

"Consummation Campsite?" Stevie repeated, helping Sam and Jake pack up the stuff that Dwight and Tanisha were taking.

Sam explained, "They're both virgins. They've been waiting for today because it's gonna be their first time. Stacie took advice and lessons. Joe specifically has been praying to be good at it and enjoyable for her, in addition to trying to get super healthy so his body is at it's best. The first thing that they did this morning was come up here, and set up that like shrine tent thing and put inside of it the stuff that they intended to… share with each other. And when we clear out of here, because they got this place still reserved with that permit…"

"No, thank you!" Stevie announced. "I don't want to know anymore."

Jake reminded him, "You and my mom talk sex like a couple of teenagers."

"That's different."

"Yeah - my mom is… about to be your stepmom…"

"Yeah, and she's hot and not my sister, so that kind of talk can work,' Stevie said.

Sam told Jake, "You know better than anyone else that his rationalizations don't make sense." Jake just nodded.

Stevie came back to the subject, "So, Joe and Stacie erected that tent specifically to lose their virginity it and they call it their Consummation Campsite… Did they go through a gauntlet of names? Which ones, I wonder didn't make the cut?" He thought for a moment, then said, "I got nothing."

.

Dwight and Tanisha were the first ones to come and the last ones to leave from the area. Dwight lowkey wanted to camp nearby, just in case something came out, but he knew that he had to trust this man with his baby girl, now.

Joe asked him, "Mr. Evans?"

"Joe, my name is Dwight. I mean, if it ain't gonna be Papa or something, at least my name."

"Papa Dwight," Joe said, uncomfortably. He was holding one of the little wooden hearts and the marker, "Did you have a chance to fill one of these out?"

Dwight threw back his head and then shook it, "Sorry, Son. It's not all the time that I get to see this much of our family and I suppose that I forgot. But, I don't think any of my advice could fit on that little thing."

Joe tilted his head and said, "Well, I have a pretty good memory, and I've never gotten any advice from you before. But, I think that yours is one of the most valuable pieces, seeing as how you raised Stacie…"

Dwight nodded his head and said, "I can't give you advice about Stacie that you don't already know. I watched you, very closely around my daughter. Even before you realized that she was all googly eyed over you. You treated her with respect, chivalry, and kindness. Whenever y'all finally got together, I watched you even closer. You cared about her well-being, you enjoyed her company, and you treated her like she matters. When you told me that you were going to ask her to marry you and I nodded my head and told you, "I knew you would;" I meant that I knew that a man like you was going to see my daughter for the great person that she is and know that he wanted her by his side. You're smart and nice. You actually give a damn about people and you're not afraid to show a woman that you love her and be both strong for her and vulnerable. Give you some advice? I should be getting one of these from you! As a matter of fact, you tell me what it is that has made you so good at this thing."

Joe smiled and watched Stacie hugging Mama T goodbye and he wrote on the little heart and gave it to his father-in-law. "Thank you for your contribution," Joe said and went to meet his wife as Tanisha went to Dwight.

"What's that?" She wondered. He looked down at it: _Love her like Christ loved the Church._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Two Weeks Later, Nisha and Dwight get married .. June 14 -2015**_

Joe and Stacie spent their night at their Consummation Campsite, got up to watch the sunrise, for the first time as a married couple, then packed up and went on their way to their honeymoon. It was a cruise, and Stacie had always wanted to go on one, but had never made the time until then. They planned their wedding not only to be able to have an outdoor celebration, but so that she wouldn't be in college for long enough to actually enjoy the trip.

Dwight's birthday party was scheduled for her to be able to just fly in to Tennessee for the party, and now, it was gonna be a wedding! Stacie enjoyed her honeymoon, for sure and she certainly was enjoying the sexual aspects. She went in full throttle with everything that she read about, learned, and studied on that first night, then took it easy after that. That way - she didn't feel obligated to just do it all, every time, and whenever she would do some of that in the future… He would remember and appreciate it. She didn't know for sure. Joe seemed… more analytical about sex than she would have imagined. She knew it was so that he could know how she felt about his performance and grow or dial back where necessary, but she preferred to not have to talk about it a lot. One thing about their heavy conversations and so forth… They had not extended into sex, because that seemed inappropriate to discuss before marriage and they thought it wouldn't matter, by the time they got married, because of the overflow of other compatible areas…

In those two weeks, while they were connecting sexually, Dwight and Nisha went through some changes of their own. First of all, Dwight told Tanisha that he finally got all of the paperwork completed that he needed to officially adopt Jake. He had wanted to do this for a while now. He'd always felt bad that Jake's father wasn't around and that Jake essentially didn't have any father figure in his world; but after his close friendship and living with Stevie and Stacie, Dwight claimed that even if he wasn't with Tanisha, it was something that he would think about and with Jake and Nisha's approval, put things in motion. It wrapped up around the time that they got engaged, signifying for Dwight "a sign."

Jake thought he'd noticed some signs, too. For one thing - on the event page, when it's name changed from Dwight Evans Down South Weekend Birthday Bash to Dwight Evans Is Getting Married Weekend, comments were a range of confusion about who he was marrying… despite that he had been listed as in a relationship with Tanisha P. (Crossley) for like two years. Some of them flat out asked, "Did you and that woman break up?" And some went in for the every so charming laugh emoji. Several people suddenly couldn't make it, and plenty of them asked to be messaged. Tanisha wasn't looking at the page. Jake figured she was treating all of this the same way that she treated Dwight's past and just pretending that it didn't exist.

She even had a rule that she didn't want to hear any details about "that stuff," a rule Jake found out about whenever he asked her how she felt about some of his things. "We had discussions about some of his life beforehand and honestly, at this point, I just don't need any old information tainting how I feel presently."

Whenever Dwight and Jake were in the same room, Jake would find a reason to leave it. "Jake?" Dwight called. He turned around. "I know that you told me that you'd try to just focus on your mom being happy and I get that you don't really trust me, but could you just maybe, pretend for the weekend? She's already stressed out enough."

"I hope you had this same conversation with the rednecks that she's going to have to be surrounded by all weekend," Jake said and left the room. Dwight sighed.

.

 _Whenever this began, Jake didn't take it seriously. So, he encouraged his mother to enjoy her life and have fun. Some part of him just thought she needed her bodily needs met and he wasn't too childish that he would pretend that her sleeping with someone was uncalled for. At least it wasn't his father._

 _But then, a couple of months after getting her groove back, as she had described it to Jake, Dwight convinced her to quit her job and move in with him. She never made much money and he had been doing well for a few years, so he thought that would be a gesture to show that he was serious about her. Jake had given her a similar offer whenever he came into his small fame fortune and she resisted. But, for Dwight, she was willing not to work. She said it was because her son shouldn't be taking care of her, especially considering that she had not been great at providing for him, but Jake saw that she was just tired of always being broke and not having. So, he didn't raise too much of a fuss when she moved in with this man that she had not been knowing or seeing for very long._

 _Next, he took her to Tennessee for some reunion and she spent the entire time subjected to microaggressions that he either didn't notice or didn't feel like were a big deal, instigating one of their first big arguments. Tanisha spent some time at Cheri's with Jake, and the relationship seemed over._

 _Tanisha began to do her comedy tours and she'd make many jokes about when she had to be the only black person at one of Dwight's gatherings and the response back from the fanbase was eruptive. Many of them were very along the lines of "If my woman was being bothered by my friends and family, there would have to be a backyard brawl!" She felt validated, by these strangers, while Dwight was apologizing on a daily basis and seemingly not even knowing that he was doing the thing that she was accusing him of. Dwight made promises to be more aware and make sure that he didn't downplay anything that she was feeling, and while in grown up land, that seemed like a good place to forgive, Jake didn't believe him._

 _After that, Dwight bought some land in Tennessee and began building a house there! Tanisha was "in Tennessee" a lot for shows, and they rarely were at his Ohio house for a while. Every time Jake saw her, she looked older. She said it was because she had gone from not working at all to working all the time and always being on the road. It made sense. Jake just felt like all of these different things sounded like excuses._

 _Whenever Dwight invited him to their "Tennessee house," Jake was honestly over it. He came down for a weekend and wondered, "What is happening? Are you two like… getting married or something?" And Tanisha burst into a loud roar of laughter. She had been trying to get a divorce from his dad now for almost a year! Instead, Dwight wanted to adopt him…_

" _And that way, whenever we have everything else lined up, that divorce, our… thing… We'll officially all be family." Dwight had said. Tanisha didn't refute, even though she had just laughed at Jake's suggestion that they were getting married - but it still sounded like an "eventually," to him._

" _Do whatever you want," he had said. He certainly didn't blame Jake for how he felt. They had many conversations about why he didn't approve._

 _But, the two weeks between Stacie and Joe's wedding and Tanisha and Dwight's, Jake realized that it was now too late to try to plead the case that he had mentally been building up._

Instead, he decided to be his mom's best man in the best way - a bachelorette party at a strip club. Marley set everything up. Jake was basically the designated sober. Cheri, Mercedes, Marley, Maybelle (Mary Evans' twin sister, uncomfortably enough. Jake insisted that she not invite her, but Marley said that Tanisha told her TO invite her and she was always trying to be on her good side. That decision would blow up in her face), and a few other Tennessee women and Ohio women that Tanisha knew were at their table.

Cheri gave her a veil with assorted dicks glued to it and devil horns, and a huge flashing button that read, "Last Chance for My Last Dance." Everyone was taking shots and men's glistening bodies were everywhere while Jake played on his phone, posting photos every now and then and checking in with Stevie at his dad's bachelor party - which was just hanging out with some of his old buddies. "Burning crosses?" Jake had messaged. Stevie left it on read.

.

She was trying to contour her make up and do something with her hair, all the while feeling like her head was spinning. Dwight knocked on the bathroom door and she asked, "Who's here?" arming herself with the curling iron.

"It's me… Are you okay?"-

"Yup," she lied.

"I mean, I _know_ you're not okay, but… are you okay?"

"I don't know what that means, but I am trying to do my hair and makeup, so… what are you talking about?" He tried to open the door, but it was locked. "You can't come in here! That's bad luck!"

"That's not real. Stacie and Joe spent their entire wedding day right in each other's faces!"

"Just because they want to test fate doesn't mean I'm going to. What are you doing here? Your birthday party is outside!"

"Well, you drunk called me and told me you were gonna let me do all these things to you that we haven't had the time to do and then when I rushed over, I barely had a chance to touch you before you passed out and stayed sleep.

"What?" She hissed as she cracked the door open and let him see her unmade face, but nothing else. On the other hand, he was already done up, looking like a whole Southern cuisine. He came closer to her and she could smell him.. God. "Well, that can't happen again. So, while the guests aren't around, lets just make this vow between us that if one of us falls to sleep or passes out or anything else, the other one has limitless permission to do as they please with their body. Unless, of course you don't want to agree to that because it makes you uncomfortable that I would proceed with your cock after you've called it a night."

"That doesn't bother me at, all, but what will bother me is if I am not awakened to consciousness by the feel of you," he said, "Soooo… Can I like… Have something right now?"

"You can go have a seat, at your party!" He poked his lip out and frowned and she leaned ever so slightly out to kiss him. It lasted longer than she had planned. They were there for a while before someone cleared their throat.

They looked up to see their sons.

Stevie complained, "I couldn't even see a toenail from Cheri when we got married, and you're in here making out on this day!"

Dwight reminded everybody again, "Stacie and Joe spent the entire day right up in each other's faces!"

Stevie reminded him, "Joe is a weirdo."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Mama T… We need to get this rascal out of your hair?"

"Need to get him out of her mouth," Stevie joked. "At any rate, Stacie and Joe are here, so, you know… There goes the neighborhood." Jake looked sour, and was quiet.

"Jake, can you please readjust your face? You've been putting a lot of pressure on me and I just want to get this over with and start the rest of my life with Dwight!" Sam and Stevie's eyes widened and they both turned to leave the room. Dwight put his head down. Tanisha went over and cupped Jake's face, "Baby… You know that you are my world. All I want and need is for you to be happy _with_ me, okay?"

"I thought that I was doing that," Jake said. "But, I guess that I could have been more relaxed. It's just… You see all the time these people on the news, and on social media and in the world who have been attacked by partners and there is this total "NObody would have guessed it!" But, they'll have an entire expose of racist shit in their past and everybody just moved along with life and I don't know _how_ to be comfortable with that possibility!"

"Don't be. I can't tell you how to feel. But, could you try to act like… Just… choke it down, for me - for today?"

Jake sighed and pulled something out of his pocket, "It's the adoption papers…" He handed them to Dwight. "I'm not as tough or mean as your boys, but IF EVER something does happen..."

"Take me out, Son. I'd deserve it," Dwight said, and gave Jake a smile.

.

Of course, after Dwight saw her, she wasn't chancing shit, so she completely changed her dress, to a short white party dress that she had not worn yet, pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and even changed her makeup. Jake was outside her door complaining, "You're gonna have these people thinking black people really don't start stuff on time…"

"We don't," she said and came out. "Eh? Eh?"

"Yes. I think this is excellent. Dwight's gonna love it."

"He does love me, you know that, right? He is good to me. He makes me happy and he takes care of me. At my age, with my baggage, that is a lot, Jake. And that's not to say that either of us are settling, but I lucked out…"

"No, you didn't. He lucked out, AND he knows it. That's _why_ he is good to you and takes care of you. And, I can't be mad at that. I'm sorry I made you feel bad. I never want to do that to you, of all people. However, I'm not sorry that I filmed you call Stevie's aunt "Backwoods Meryl Streep."

"That was tacky. She is totally Backwoods Farrah Fawcett."

"She's dead, right?"

"Yep, and Dwight's little sister-in-law is walking around looking like his wife's corpse."

"This is SO RUDE!" He said, filming her.

"WERE YOU DOING THAT AGAIN?" She fussed. Then, she said, "Remind me to give Marley a piece of my mind for inviting her."

"She said you told her to!"

"She's a publicist. She should know better!"

.

Whenever the music finally started for Tanisha to arrive, and Jake escorted her down, there were these wild yells and she jumped at the sound, at first. _Fuckin' rednecks…_ Jake gave her away and Dwight gave him a big hug and thanked him. Stevie, Sam and Stacie were right by him and Jake stayed by his mother, with Joe. They didn't need a whole crowd for her "party."

Dwight pulled out some damn reading glasses and his sheet of paper, and she almost started laughing. This was going into her routine. _Old ass._ He began reading, "When I met you, I could tell you couldn't stand me." She cackled and nodded her head. "It was a rough time for both of our families, and here you were, stuck with a bunch of strangers and having no outlet for fun."

 _She was going to remind him that the first time she met him, she had thought he was Cheri's sugar daddy, because he introduced himself as Cheri's… then paused trying to figure out what to call himself, and decided on "Cowboy's grandad… on the other side…"_

"But, when we were in that space, whether or not you wanted to be there, and whether or not you liked us, you showed us humanity and spent time making people laugh and feel better. Then, when we weren't trapped together, for some reason, you went ahead and kept doing that, making me feel better, every time that I saw you, even if you were giving me a hard time. I can't believe that there ever was a time that I didn't love you.

I know it happened. I remember it. I can recall things as clearly as a man my age can about my life before you, but all of that seems imaginary and surreal, like it was a dream sequence and I wasn't awake… Hell, I wasn't even _alive,_ until you came to me and with a few laughs and the most beautiful eyes got right into my soul and reorganized everything that I thought I was, and you made me feel like a complete person. I didn't even know I wasn't that way. I just assumed everybody was like I was… Just… Surviving. Then, your love gave me life.

I think that for the first time, ever in my life, I'm clear about everything in my life. I was an idiot. I was a terrible person. I was abusive and toxic and honestly - evil. I was all of that and I'd never discredit that. But, I've become a better person and with you, I have never felt more right, more human, or more in love. I am with you until I don't have a single breath to breathe. May God never make me have to ever live a moment without you."

She started crying and whimpered, "Oh Fuck." Several people laughed, some hooted. She blew out wind and threw her head back, "We said light!"

"That was the light version," he told her. "I was saving the other stuff for…" He blushed.

She pulled out her little scroll and read, trying not to cry and failing, "As far as which one of us does well with words, I have some wit and am known to be funny, but whenever it's about you, some portion of me is always serious. Because, I look at you and you calm me. You make me feel grounded. Being around you has always made it so easy to laugh and speak freely and just be myself, because despite everything that everybody always has to say about you, I've _only ever_ known you to be open-minded, accepting, non-judgmental. I feel sometimes like _I am living a dream,_ and I'm going to wake up and they'll tell me that I've been in a coma, and you'll be this hot country doctor who's just been being nice to me while I atrophy in the hospital after my child's father abandoned me and my son gave up coming to see me.."

"Damn," Jake said. Stacie's eyes were wide and her face confused.

"Yes, I am off topic. You know how easy it is for me to get off topic. But, you also know how to bring me back down. Nobody has ever made me feel the way that you do and if I can feel like this for the rest of my life, show me that dotted line. My heart has already signed it."

Stevie, Stacie and Jake leaned in towards each other simultaneously and each spoke.

Stacie: This is not light.

Stevie: How is this light?

Jake: Opposite of light.

Then, they stood straight again, having heard all three of their comments spoken at the same time. Joe and Sam snickered at their little connection.

.

Tanisha wasn't a planner of events, so Marley took care of this rush job wedding and repurposing Stacie's things for Tanisha's wedding. She also made sure that Dwight got ice cream, as Tanisha was very insistent that he wanted it, because this was originally his birthday party and she took it over and she wanted him to be able to have ice cream with his birthday cake that they were going to pretend was a groom's cake!

She had to smooth things over with Maybelle… who at extremely short notice was the one who she'd commissioned for the wedding cake and wedding cupcakes! Marley was exhausted and frustrated at the end of the ceremony, but was glad that it was over and honestly ready to quit even trying to make Jake's mom happy. She bumped into her before the garter throwing and Tanisha cheered, "Hey! Thank you for everything! I couldn't have ever thrown all of this together without you, with Stacie having been gone. You're a good worker and a good person, You made today possible for me. I'll always be thankful." Marley started crying and nodded her head. Tanisha looked shocked and told her, "We're about to throw this into the hands of some sweaty hillbilly."

"It's okay, they dodge those," Marley reminded her.

And whenever she threw her simple, store bought fake bouquet, Marley caught it and held it to her heart. Stevie cackled and patted Jake on the shoulder. "That's not…" Jake shook his head, but smiled at Marley.

.

Dwight hugged Nisha tightly as they danced and whimpered in her ear, "I can't wait to get you out of this dress…"

"I was hoping that I could relive our first date and you just fuck me upskirt, with my panties pulled to the side…"

"I certainly can and certainly will. Now, it's even harder for me to wait to unwrap my birthday present!"

"Your birthday present is gonna unwrap itself if you keep talking like this. I _know_ you don't want JoeBob seeing my gushy, so reigh it in. Also, in those pants, everybody will be able to see that erection."

"You gotta stay up on me, then." Then were smiling at each other and talking and he looked around and said, "I wonder if people know that we're over here talking about sex plans."

"Probably Stevie. Stevie has a problem, I should probably stop encouraging it," they looked over at him, smiling accusingly. Tanisha pointed the middle finger at him and he laughed.

"I've been trying to tell you not to encourage him for years!"

"Because you don't realize how cute it is to see you blush!" She teased.

"I'm not cute! I'm a manly handsome man!" He joked.

"Speaking of, guess what my manly handsome man is getting for his honeymoon?"

"His face ridden a lot, I hope," he said.

She smiled brightly, "In addition to that DUH answer, I have a lumberjack's retreat planned. It's sort of like Stacie and Joe's little camping thing, but this is not only camping, but hunting, fishing, and hiking - just the two of us. AND, upon coming back, with whatever we get… I will let you teach me how to grill, like you've been wanting to."

His face brightened up with childlike wonder and she squinched her own face as she smiled. "That is the reaction that I could only hope for.

"That's a perfect honeymoon for me!"

"I know. You told me whenever we first discussed your ex that you wanted to do this stuff with her and she turned you down. You said, 'She wouldn't even do it for our honeymoon.'

"I know what I said, I just didn't expect you to remember that!"

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I can be good at stuff at times."

"You're perfect at stuff all of the time. God, I love you. Always will."


	5. Chapter 5

_**02-04-16 Samcedes Twins**_

Having been catapulted into fame after a publicist handed him a business card and told him that people would want to know his story, Sam got extremely good at being a certain person. A charming person who was polite and always said the right things, much like a politician, but with the backing of God. He even started this little saying, "Preachers are politicians who campaign for God," so he felt like he was qualified for the job whenever he decided one day that he was going to do it.

He started his seminary classes and designing the church at the same. He gave the notes and sketches to Dwight, who in turn got in touch with an actual architect to draw up plans, and Dwight confirmed them with Sam before he put his employees at EvansStrong Construction Company to work on it.

Sam's charisma and cheerful disposition made the process of getting approved for the church, becoming a pastor and everything in between smooth sailing.

In the meantime, Sam was getting all of his preaching certifications, letting Marley do what she would with his latest book and basking in being a father - something that he had wanted for so many years and even several years with Mercedes specifically.

But, seeing Stevie and Cheri juggle their five was equal parts a hindrance and motivation to have more. They couldn't be back to back like that, but he still wanted plenty. Like, they made it look easier than it seemed, because they often were working in synergy, using the same brain or well memorized techniques for pretty much everything that they did related to the children. But, their sleep, eating, and bathroom schedules were not in sync. It looked neverending, as far as the tending to the kids part.

With Heaven, Sam and Mercedes both could just spoil him rotten and still have enough time for all of their other things, so they waited until he was at least one before they even started trying again. Instead, Sam decided to go all in and plan another wedding, while he had all of these other goals that he was checking off of his list.

So much planning had gone into what it was meant to be, for him to rush things at the first chance that he was able to plan something else. He gave Kurt a call when he had some free time, before it got too late and Kurt was in his beauty routine and beauty rest phase of the night.

"Hey, Kurt! It's Sam."

Kurt sounded confused for a moment, then cheered, "Hi, Sam! What's up?"

"How quickly can we get the ball rolling for Mercy to finally have the wedding that we had initially planned for her to have." There was clamor on the other end of the phone as Kurt must have started running around, grabbing things and stuff or something. Sam wasn't sure what the heck he was hearing.

"Like, a month," Kurt said, his voice excited. "Some of the vendors have changed and some of the fashion will definitely need a double take, but I still have all of the plans for that, the color scheme, everything."

"A month? To do it all to the nines?"

"We executed your winter wedding in a fraction of the time. This was planned. I just need to adjust some details and yes. A month!"

"I expected more. My church won't even be ready in that much time."

"Well, Mercedes is filled with babies, so I don't think she'll be very excited to waddle down the aisle anyway. At least plan it in an amount of time that she can push them out!"

Perhaps a year later, they successfully conceived. Then, some weeks later, they discovered that they had conceived twins. That was when they decided to do their announcement. "Can we do bears for them?" Sam wondered. "Like, I thought maybe we'd double down on the bees because Heaven loves the bee stuff and his bee nursery, but now - we're about to have three little bears! Get it?"

"But, we're having two," she said.

"Because we already got one and these two make three!"

"Also, that story is a Mama, Papa and one baby. We would have already been the three little bears, and now we'll be something that has five…"

"You just don't get it," he said and she laughed. "I'm doing bears for their theme and putting 'We're having two little bears," on the invites."

"Do what you want, I can't see any of it! You could cover the room in turds for all I care!"

"While you're joking, I'll have you know that there is plenty of poop emoji product!"

"I don't even know what a poop emoji is, but it sounds gross."

"It's a little doodoopile with a smile!"

"Why?"

"To show people in technology how you feel."

"And there is a feeling that equates to a smiling doodoopile?"

"Obviously…"

.

They planned for everything in advance. Dwight, Sam, Stevie and Jake made a "Maternity Cave," which was basically a man cave for a blind,pregnant woman. In the event that she wound up on bedrest again (which she did), this room was the room that she set up in, with everything that she needed accessible, including an electric wheelchair that she could use to travel to the bathroom and such. Whenever she would get into it, Heaven had to tell her where he was by them playing a version of Marco Polo, where she got away from where he was as she carted herself, so that she would not run over him, with the words, "Grace and"

"Mercy!" (Mershee) He'd call out, from wherever he was, giving her the knowledge to keep him safe. It had her mini-fridge for her deepest cravings and a shelf above that for the non-refrigerated snacks. Her room was mostly snacks, books, audibles - all within her reach from the twin bed, which she had a life size maternity pillow in - and Heaven, Kissy and Cluster, often nearby.

Sam documented everything, much like he had with Heaven,bit this time, he had Heaven there to explain it all to. "And now your little bears are 6 months along. 3 until they make it home for milk and cuddles!" He'd say, taking photos and then kissing Mercy's belly, which Heaven would in turn want to kiss and Sam would have to lift him to do it. "One for Little Bear Number One, and One for Little Bear Number Two," Sam would say before each kiss."

"You and your bad recollection of the Three Bears," Mercy would tease.

"Excuse you? Call up Stevie and Stacie and tell that to them. That was a family favorite when I told them when they were little. My story time is an epic adventure!" Heaven smiled brightly and Sam pointed, "This guy knows what's up. Mommy is an angry bear because baby bears kick!"

Sam even kept the tradition of reading stories to the wombguests, like he had with Heaven,but now that Heaven was here and he had to entertain him, as well - hetoldthe stories to the twins and Heaven,much like he did when Stevie and Stacie were small.

Mercedes asked him to begin recording after his first story, during which she almost peed on herself laughing when Snow White got poisoned with a Luther Burger, instead of an apple and he nonchalantly said, "Boondocks reference," then proceeded with, "But this wasn't no itis Snow had. It wasn't a sugar coma neither. This was pure, unadulterated, bad eating decisions. A full burger? On two donuts?" Heaven hardly knew what he was talking about but Mercedes had craved such a burger earlier, which Sam begrudgingly bought, then talked about the Boondocks episode for five minutes. He could have gone fifteen, but her nostrils flared and she turned and seemed to look right at him. "Did I just annoy you into seeing?" He'd asked, but stopped nagging about how unhealthy her craving was.

After he began taping these, Jane helped Mercedes to put them up on the But God Is (Able) website.

They called it Pastor Sammy's Solid Story Corner, and it was huge. Mason and Major even watched them and Cheri did too, with or without the kids.

The most popular was The Three Little Bears, in which Sam used the, "Somebody toucha my spaghet!" Cheri laughed at that one part alone fifteen times in a row. Cowboy did too, but he didn't get that reference.

Mason shook his head and folded his arms, "I wish that I would have thought of this. This is genius."

Tanisha drank wine and pulled them up in the evening. "I ain't bout to kiss your wart lips! Even if you weren't a frog, I, Sir, am a lady!" And that was it. She didn't kiss that frog and you shouldn't, either. It's a frog. You don't know what could happen. Nasty little creature. That goes double for kissing other kids. Let the grown-ups do that, passing on cooties is for old people." She cackled and called out, "Dwight! Come pass me some cooties!"

"Do what?"

Sam made a Vine in which he dressed up like Jim dressing up like Dwight Shrute and said, "Bears, Bumblebees, Babydoll."

Mercedes kept telling him that bumblebees don't make honey ( and some of Heaven's stuff had honey and they were trying the bears in to that as he decorated and added on to the nursery, but he said that didn't change his joke.

By February 4th, Heaven's nursery had been reorganized to make room for Bliss and Blessing. The bees,the honey, the little bears - it all worked together and Sam had a good feeling that Heaven would be the best and most loving big brother to them.

Mercy wanted him back into the room as soon as he could be allowed inside. Whenever they introduced him, Sam said, "See them two little bears Mommy's got?"

Heaven exclaimed, "It's two lil daddies!"

Mercedes laughed, "I guess that tells me who they look like."

Sam said, "They look like you… But super white, which means nothing to you. This girl looks albino. Which also means nothing to you."

Heaven pointed at Bliss and said, "I want that one."

"Well, both of them are ours now. They're our little bears. They're coming home with us and living there." Heaven nodded his head and tried to grab Bliss, "This is mine." Mercedes fearfully waved her head around, "Wait wait, Heaven, Baby…"

Sam collected Heaven and explained, "Remember Mommy can't see you or the baby. You gotta let us hand him to you. Mommy got scared when you grabbed him, okay? Let's try it with Daddy's help." Sam gently set Bliss on to Heaven's lap and closely monitored this. "He's a little _you._ You, him, and your sister all lived in Mommy and came to us this way. You were almost this small when we first saw you."

"This not a bear!" Heaven declared upon noticing that and almost shoved Bliss off of him. Sam stopped him and instructed him to gently let him take the baby back.

"I don't think he really gets that babies are tiny humans."

"You called them bears for nine months and put bear decorations all over his room…"

"He's young. He'll never remember the disappointment I set him up for, but Pepperidge Farms will..."

Mercedes cackled and accidentally woke up Blessing. She cried. Heaven's eyes were wide in surprise and he tried to give her his bee plushie. Sam's eyes watered as he made a recording of it, then he showed Heaven her little girl bear and Heaven tried to give that to her instead. She just kind of pawed at it but her crying lowered to a stop. Heaven looked a little defeated that she wasn't taking the bear, but Sam easily redirected it to joy when he cheered quietly, "Big Brother Bear made her stop crying! High five, Bumblebee." Heaven happily slapped his dad's hand and then realized he changed his mind about something. He pointed to Blessing and said, "I want that one!"

Sam just nodded as Mercy laughed, content. _Thank God for another successful journey,with rewards at the end._

Sam made a video of them all asleep. This was one of those few things that Stevie got to know the feeling of before he did. Seeing the woman he loved and the children that they created together all at peace and safe, near him. He'd always gotten the point of all those photos that his younger brother would take of his family, even when it was just Cheri and Cowboy, and Heaven wasn't even yet formed. But, for the past couple of years, being a father and now a father _of three…_ There was nothing in the world that could ever make him as happy as this did… He had his Babydoll as his wife, his busy Bee, his little Bears, a church almost ready to be opened to the public. He thought that he had been complete before, and now he knew that he was filled and overflowing with blessings.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Four Weddings and a Couple of Births 06: The Final Chapter**_

Excerpt of Sam and Mercedes' first wedding; Do You See What Eye See, Chapter 11, The Rearranging:

 _The troubles of the world, the problems on her mind, the sorrows of life, and the issues between them were like distant memories as they sat near the lake, eating and talking, singing and cuddling. Sam made a fire that she insisted that he cheated to make, and he insisted that he burned himself dozens of times practicing just so that he wouldn't have to cheat, today._

 _"Have you thought about a honeymoon?" He asked her._

 _"We haven't gotten the wedding out of the way, yet!" She retorted._

 _"Uh, no – I thought that I'd start with the fun stuff! Weddings seem like a trial and a hassle. Tina's ready to pull her hair and Mike's out just for the planning of the thing!" Sam said, fiddling around for her hand, and knowing of course that she doesn't know that he's trying to find it. "Where is your hand?" He asked, chuckling. She reached out for him, laughing, too. "Ah! There we go. I found it all by myself," he said, causing her to laugh more. "I thought about doing this really cool thing to you, but it's ONLY really cool if you're like receptive to it," he told her._

 _"Okay…" She said, trying not to sound too worried, though she slightly was, but more intrigued than anything else. "What is it that you had in mind?" She wondered. Sam cleared his throat and stood up, pulling her up with him and she almost fell over, and laughed as she caught herself and he lowered himself. "Did you fall, Sam?" She asked, feeling forward for him, but he took both of her hands, gently into his. He was on his knees, or something._

 _"I fell. I fell for the most wonderful woman alive and I promise that I will do everything for the rest of my life to always make her happy and to prove that my love is real… Mercedes Jones, will you marry me? Today?" He asked, stroking her hands, unsure of how to take the fact that he couldn't see her face right now._

 _"What are you…?" She heard commotion and voices and she practically almost fell over again. "Who's here?" She asked._

 _Quinn and Tina simultaneously called out, "Everyone!" Mercedes gasped and squeezed Sam's hands harder than she intended._

 _"Gonna be soooo awkward if she says no…" she heard Lauren mutter._

 _Santana said, "It is colder than polar bear pussy out here! We need this thing to get moving!"_

 _Brittany fussed, "Santana! Don't say that. One of those preacher people are here!"_

 _Mercedes could barely catch her breath as she asked Sam, "You PLANNED this?"_

 _Sam answered, "I thought that if I didn't just bring a wedding to you that I might never get you to one. Our families are here, our friends and the dogs. Joe's granddad came to do the service, if you want to."_

 _Santana called out, "I got rice to throw at the two of you as hard as I can for making me freeze my ass off!" She put a finger up at Brittany and warned, "Don't you start." She made her way closer to the fire and warmed up by it. "And, we still don't have an answer."_

 _Mercedes laughed and said, "Yes! I'll do it, Sam. I'll marry you TODAY!"_

 _"Praise GOD!" She heard Stacie cheer._

 _Sam smiled and got up from off of his one knee, "Where's the altar? Where do I go?" He asked, laughing. It made Sam a little sad that Stevie wasn't here, but this really was a spur of the moment idea of his and he couldn't fight it off, once he thought of it. Besides, they would have a big wedding ceremony later, some time, but for all extensive purposes, he needed this woman to become his actual wife right away!_

 _Mercedes could smell wood burning and knew that a bigger fire was being made to keep their guests warm and she shivered from just the nerves that she was having, then totally freaked out, "I don't have a wedding ring for you!" She squealed, fearfully. She felt a rough hand open one of hers and heard Dwight's voice._

 _"Here you go, Doll. It's about time I said goodbye to it," he told her, and shut her fist around his old wedding ring, with happy tears in his eyes. "I've been waiting a long time for you to join the family, Mercedes, and we ain't letting a little piece of jewelry be the reason that you don't."_

 _Mercedes smiled, trying to keep her racing emotions at bay, "Thank you, Dwight," she said, her attempts not to sob failing. Dwight took her and Sam, each with one arm and led them to the altar that Tina and Quinn had set up for them and to Joe's grandfather._

 _Unique, Becky and Lauren had set up a table with large canisters for hot drinks and the hot chili and soup that had been prepared. Santana had resigned herself to bundling up and shivering next to the fire as she tried to pay attention to things. Mike and Artie were taking photos of everything and Sam and Mercedes never looked happier._

 _Marley smiled at them and glanced at her phone when Missy was calling. She sighed and shoved it into her bag. Hell, she was off, this weekend. She glanced around at all of the love that she saw. These people loved each other so much, to be out here, in the cold for an impromptu wedding. Missy would probably ruin everything. Marley wasn't going to give her a chance to do that. Miss Babydoll deserved to look this happy and be this happy for as long as Mr. Evans could make her! She felt herself getting misty eyed watching them together._

 _Tina shook her head, smiling at her friends and took Quinn's hand into hers. The look on Quinn's face showed that she was having a hard time watching it happen, but she knew that it would and she would support them… it was just stressful for her, because of her past with protecting Mercedes and keeping her safe from everything but herself. It was like she was watching her little girl grow up, even though she was only months older than her. Quinn pulled Beth closer to herself and held her close, strumming the side of her face. Cooper had to work. He probably wouldn't have come, anyway. He wasn't really close to any of them and honestly, they were all much younger than he was. Quinn and he had a pretty good relationship, but she generally came across as an older person._

 _Tina was ready to dance with each recital of the vows. It didn't bother her one bit to take a break from her wedding plans to throw a quick wedding for her best friends. Mike came next to her and took her other hand, snuggling closer to her for some warmth. Artie rolled next to Lauren and rested his head against her as she wrapped an arm around him._

 _Emma was looking around at everyone, on the verge of tears. She once had that. It was brilliant and bright and beautiful. Then, it simply fell apart. Her eyes spilled tears and she looked across the short distance to see Shannon, standing there, looking just as miserable as she did. Why be apart when they could be together? It wouldn't be the same, but hell – if it would be miserable, at least it would be miserable company. Shelby reached for Emma's hand and squeezed it, noting the sorrow in her expression and Emma forced a smile, just for her and tried not to turn her head towards her ex again._

 _Stacie's teeth were chattering, so Joe took off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck, tucking her ears into it, with a wink. She couldn't help to turn even a shade redder than her already dark pink coloring from the coldness. But, this story was gonna be SO GREAT for her to tell her nieces and nephews about when they would inquire about their parents' wedding. She had Cowboy bundled up so tightly that all anyone could see was his little nose and for his sake, she kept him cradled to her, but kept checking to make sure she didn't accidentally smother the poor kid. She was sad that Cheri had to miss it for cheerleading camp, but she'd be able to be at the next one, Stacie told herself – Cheri AND Stevie would be able to be at the next one._

 _"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.." Sam reached for Mercedes' face, touched it for a bit, feeling for her lips and pulled her to him to kiss, accompanied by cheers all around._

 _"Wait… can you not see me?" She asked._

 _He simply smiled and told her, "I said that I wasn't taking it off until we were back in the cabin."_

 _"But, you didn't get the full experience that you could have gotten!" She said. "You robbed yourself of that?"_

 _"I didn't rob myself of anything, Babydoll. It was a metaphor. It's just to say that I'm willing to go blindly into the future with you. I don't know or care what it holds, as long as you're there with me and you're all mine…" She pulled him in for the kiss this time, getting more cheers from their guests._

 _Santana said, "It is freaking cold! Can we PLEASE get to the cabin reception, now?"_

 _Tina popped her across the bottom and said, "Alright, Scrooge!"_

 **.**

 _ **Pt. 1 - Planning Is Everything**_

Now that Dwight's construction company had finished with Sam and Joe's church, the doors had been open and the twins had been born; the first action of his new church was to have his rededication ceremony to his wife. So far, besides Sunday sermons and staff meetings in the office, there had only been one big event - the grand opening/Easter Sunday service.

Since Cheri and Stacie had previously worked for Kurt at the Magic Mirror, they assisted he and Lauren with manifesting the vision. Who's vision - considering Mercedes was blind and Sam was fine with a blindfold and a hoodie? Kurt's, of course, and to a lesser degree, Tina's. She was video conferencing the wedding planning party more than they had seen her face in a while, with all of the ideas and contacts that she still had for this wedding. Cheri roped Mason into doing it with her, since he currently was her "Best Twin" on her most current reality series (and he was really good with decorating and stuff, too, with his gifting business).

Kurt assigned Stacie and Mason to florals, centerpieces and ambience. Lauren and Tina were in charge of decorations design and administrative duties, and Cheri was going to be his little helper in the showroom. The number of dresses that he rejected, even if she noted the changes that they could make to make it more Mercy like and acceptable unto him… She was ready to drive her car through the shop and smash everything IN the showroom. Mason kept texting or calling her with great news about things that he and Stacie found and she was lowkey feeling like they were challenging her. "Yes, they are challenging you! They are laughing in your face, Cheri Charming! You're supposed to be a pop culture icon as a beacon of fashion and taste. You would have your first sister-in-law looking like a raggamuffin?" Kurt practically yelled. _What in the Devil Wears Prada was going on?_ She worked for Kurt for almost two years, on and off. He fashioned her wedding - though she knew almost exactly what she wanted. He'd made her custom fits for red carpet events and premieres. He always came through with very little to go on for her. But, this was for Mercedes. He loved her dearly. She was his best living friend, outside of his husband, his brother, and his sister-in-law. She was once like a sister to him. They didn't see each other as much as he would have loved and he didn't get to do as much for her as he used to… Therefore, this had to be the most perfect thing that he had ever put together, with the exception of his own wedding that Cheri had only heard stories and seen photos of, which everyone swore did it no justice.

She searched diligently for a dress, and her taste was excellent, but she was supposed to be dressing Mercedes. That was the hardest part. She asked Kurt to focus in on what the rest of the wedding party would be wearing to give her more time to try to come up with something. Eventually, she ordered a dress in Mercedes' size and did a little work on it herself (which Kurt could always come in behind her and touch up. She just needed it already done, because Kurt was trampling over every vision that she painted for him. Whenever the guys all came in to get sized for their clothing, she was working on the dress and thought that Kurt had not yet seen it. But, when she heard, "Tatatatatatata…" and she jumped and saw Kurt dragging Sam in the other direction, she heard him say, "You do not go back there. That is where the dress is and you can't see it." _That is where the dress is. He is accepting this dress!_

Stacie took Mason on a trip to the places where she tended to get her best flower deals and he was floored by how knowledgeable she was on all of it. He knew plants only as far as he could use them for therapuetic or beauty purposes. "Yeah - I've been studying botany for years and Joe is a holistic vegan, so… we're both pretty plant-centric."

"I should get my flowers from you!" Mason cheered. "I wanted to start providing flowers for gift sets. Sometimes, people ask me, "But aren't flowers an oldie but goodie?" and Yeah, I guess, but if I had a provider, I would want to let them be more present in my services." So, not only did they have a great time working on their things, but they were able to make a networking connection, as well.

Kurt, Lauren and Cheri all did measurements and Stevie felt a way about Cheri doing these measurements. This had been a part of her job for the past few years? She was right by his junk! He frowned and tried not to mope about this, but eventually got on Kurt's nerves, as Kurt did measurements and expectations in the same meeting. He pulled out a chart of stick figures and pointed out where each of them were to enter, then where they were to stand. Stevie kept joking around about different things and starting side conversations. By the time Kurt said, "And this is very important, when you part ways and go the your post, you have to fluidly do this and to land in the correct spot. I will not be embarrassed by the image of a blond gold where the bumblebee gold should be."

Stevie raised his hand and asked, "Are you making up colors, or do we really need to learn the difference between blond and bumblebee golds?"

"Get the fuck out of my studio, lesser Evans," Kurt snapped and pointed his stick towards the exit. Cheri and Sam both turned their faces to the ceiling and floor. Kurt tried not to get mad often, but when he did, it was a little bit crazy. Stevie stood, confused, wondering if that was an actual kick out, until Kurt grabbed a spray bottle and started firing it in his direction… like he was a stray cat! Stevie made a weird yelping noise and rushed out of the door, then pressed his face against the window, looking in. Kurt pointed at Cheri and asked her, "How dare you bring this into my life?"

She gawked and pointed at Sam, "But… they were here first. How's this not Sam's fault?"

"He's Mercedes' groom," Kurt reminded her. "He gets mild favoritism in this wedding. Explain the difference between blonde gold and bumblebee gold and teach him his steps."

"He's just going down an aisle and then to his spot, Kurt!"

"You trust Stevie to do that on his own?" Kurt asked. "On the beat of the music. With some panache, as well? You don't believe that yourself. I saw him clap offbeat to a country song at your reception." Mike and Artie both tried not to bust out laughing. They were not new to this Kurt. They had been in this position many times before.

Santana came in and pointed to the window, "Did you know that Regular-Sized Lips Evans was outside?" Now, Artie and Lauren both laughed and shook their heads, apologizing to Cheri. She sighed.

Kurt asked Santana back, "Did you know that 3:00 doesn't mean 4:00?"

"I obviously didn't care," she said and shrugged. "Looks like everyone is still here and at least one of them is on time out. I'm the smartest person in the room for showing up late."

Cheri looked at her notes and wondered, "Why is Miss Santana here?"

"Because she is in a tux!" Kurt hissed. Cheri saw the note, just as he said it and nodded her head. The camera was going to LOVE putting this on the show.

Santana went over to Cheri to let her measure her. "Don't pay any kind of mind to his mood swings. Geminis are historically unstable and high strung about special projects. He'll go home, eat a whole cheesecake and forget that he ever said anything cross to you. He's an alabaster asshole, but he's just trying to make sure that his contribution to Mercy's big day is important. It ain't about you, trust me."

"Thank you, Miss Santana."

"Lemme see what dress you're wearing," Santana said.

"Honor squad gets the gold dresses and the bridesmaids are getting those purple ones…"

Santana called out, "Hey, who am I escorting in?"

Kurt stopped talking, and looked at the chart that he had been pointing to and explaining the whole time, then set his stick down and informed everyone he was taking a cheesecake break.

.

 _ **The Pre-Wedding Parties**_

Stevie and Jake planned a bachelor party, seeing how Sam didn't have one last time. But, he didn't _want_ one this time, reminding them, especially Stevie that he had three small children at home and a blind wife to watch them. They'd planned the parties on different nights - first Sam's, then Mercedes, because Stevie fully understood three small children at home. He also fully understood "one night off," and because this was not Mercy's party night, the ladies were available to babysit while she got herself some well deserved and needed rest. They'd do the same for Sam the next night. This opened up the argument against if I have a night off, I want to rest with it. Stevie and Cheri had bachelor/bachelorette brunches and crashed by 7 pm the night before they got married. The reception was their party. But, she was also a couple of months pregnant and he was just exhausted.

They went out to Coach's old place, which kept basically the same set up and just changed the name to The Hall, and put more music in the jukebox. Sam asked Stevie to play What's New Pussycat a bunch of times, but he refused. "This ain't even my night, then," Sam pouted playfully. Kurt and Blaine headed up karaoke. The Evans bros played pool and had beers. Mike, Artie, Joe, and Dwight were all dancing. Everybody ended up playing darts before joining Kurt and Blaine in karaoke with Queen songs. At the end of the night, Sam admitted, "That was super lowkey, but fun and amazing and I needed it more than I knew."

Stevie shrugged his shoulders and said, "I knew."

Jake nodded his head, "He literally said, 'He's a father of three and his wife is at home getting sleep. He doesn't want a wild night. He just wants to be able to enjoy his time."

Sam nodded, "Wise man."

Stevie pumped the breaks and the truck jerked Jake and Sam around a bit. "Are you _drunk,_ Sammy?"

"Just in a good mood. I get to marry my wife again and this time, you get to be there. One of the worst things the first time, that I was really sad about was that my little brother couldn't be there. Now, I have two little brothers in two different gold suits and they're both gonna be there, and my sister, and all their wives."

Stevie and Jake chuckled and whispered, "I think he is."

Jake added, "Dude had bout half a beer, though."

"Two and a half, Jake!" Sam said.

"That is still a child's portion of beer," Jake mused.

"I'm not drunk. I'm just happy. I'm happy to be able to chill with my bros. Y'all never chill with me. We should chill. The three of us."

"We'll see about that, Buddy," Stevie said, to which Jake snickered.

.

Mercedes did not come to play, though. She pumped her milk, put on a party dress and sunglasses, with a high ponytail and she spent all night singing karaoke, dancing with her girls, and listening to toasts. It was like the old days, when she used to be able to go out and do things and have fun. She missed her friends, so much and spending this kind of time with them. All of them wound up crashing at Cheri's, as none of them were capable of driving and Cheri had to call in Stevie to collect them in the RV. He was entertained. "Y'all have fun, or something?" Cheri sat on his lap and tried to stay there, but he firmly told her that he could not drive if she did not move. She huffed and puffed her ass all the way to the back of the RV. The camera man tried to get on, but Stevie gave him a chop throat gesture, to cut it out. "Nawl, Man. You not getting on here. You shoulda drove these ladies home. Degenerate." Stevie pulled off, chuckling to himself.

.

 _ **Sam and Mercy - Rededication Vow Ceremony Apr. 16-2016**_

Mercedes played with a Braille rubik's cube to try to destress about this ceremony. She was excited, but also a bit frightened. She had never declared her love for Sam in front of this many people before. Their family and friends were all there, but also church members, former church members, friends of family, and all sorts. Someone had said that there appeared to be at least 1,000 people there _early._ She was suddenly grateful that Cheri had insisted on making a guest list for the outside reception and signage to indicate that while the wedding was open invite, the reception was RSVP only and setting a guard out there.

Cheri and Stacie were helping the men accessorize while Kurt was in with the bridesmaids, zilla-ing in Mercy's stead. All of the women had woken up either hungover, or tired and they did a spa morning, because that was planned and Kurt insisted it would help everyone be their "bestest and freshest..." But, that's if they _hadn't_ partied late into the night. Now, Cheri and Stacie were dodging that, because they'd had enough of his shenanigans throughout the planning of this thing and these boutonnieres, pocket handkerchiefs, cufflinks and all this other wholly unnecessary shit that Kurt had these men trying to straighten out themselves (like they were him or something) were not going to sort themselves out.

Dwight and Sam appeared squared away. Mike smiled awkwardly and told Stacie, "Tina usually does all this other stuff for me." Stacie smiled and helped him out.

Cheri wondered, "Do you think that Kurt noticed that Jake and Artie's suits are honey gold instead of bumblebee?"

Stacie shushed her and shook her head, "If he rants, say that the tags said bumblebee!" Jake and Artie now looked at each other and Jake asked, "Should we try to hide until it's showtime?"

Artie shook his head and said, "Whenever Kurt does the thing, I just don't say nothing. He'll hit the ceiling, come down and get over it pretty quickly."

Stevie fussed, "He sprayed me with a spray bottle over these golds! He'd better get upset about it!" Cheri fixed his vest and pinched his nipple gently, causing him to hiss.

"Behave," she lipped.

Artie now asked, "Am I witnessing something sexual? Because, I consent, but you're supposed to ask me first…"

Kurt came in, with Beth right behind him, making notes as he said different things. She began to collect the men, "This way please, gentlemen," she said.

Kurt went to stand to the side by himself and Tina and Quinn fanned him. "My baby girl. My baby girl is getting married today."

Stacie almost yelped, "She's BEEN married!" Kurt alerted and looked around for the source of that comment while Cheri and Stacie tried to duck behind Stevie and Jake.

"Excuse y'all…" Stevie said.

Beth came up, "I need Evans Twins and Lesser Evans Wife?" Stevie threw his head back. Beth said, "Or… Regular Sized Lips Evans? Is that you, Uncle Stevie?"

"Yes, Darlin'. Stacie and I are Evans Twins and Cheri is Regular Sized Lips Evans' awesome sized wife." She waved them along with her and began to position them where her little doodle from Kurt had them, to position them for when they would enter.

At the moment, the choir was singing a medley from the choir stand as the church band played the music: _Colorblind, I Want to Know What Love Is,_ and _Natural Woman._

Whenever the bridal party began to enter, there was a praise dance group dancing at the altar and the front of the church. Kurt liked this idea, because he felt that it would take some of the attention and pressure off of their entrance and the small little color discrepancy that would be made when Lauren went into place too soon before her purple counterpart - him.

Mike and Blaine were going to escort Rachel in.

Brittany and Becky were on either side of Santana.

Jake and Artie were on either side of Lauren.

Then, after the choir's Mercedes Medley, Tina and Kurt would come on the arms of Kurt.

And last, The Evans twins and their spouses were coming in, together.

Lined along Mercedes' side was Rachel, Santana, Becky, Jake, Quinn, and Kurt.

Lined along Sam's side was Mike, Blaine, Brittany, Artie, Tina, and Lauren.

The Evans Twins + spouses parted at the front pew with an opening for the bride.

The dance team was gone, the choir began to sing runs of "Here Comes the Bride," and an audio played of Sam's voice over the speakers, reading from his book,

"Dear Mercedes,

Before I knew that I wanted you to be my wife, I knew that you were the single most important person that I would ever meet. For a while there, I didn't forget, but I let you forget and I will never forgive myself for that. I know that we're always taught to look on the bright side of life, and to see and find the goodness in all things. We even tell others the same. But, some of the things that I have brought into your life - there was no good in them, at all. How dare I ever let anything fall between the cracks. Without you, I would not even be alive. I would have lost the fight. Everything that I am known for, and everything that I have become would have been nothing, if it were not for you. As long as I live, I will never understand what made you choose me, when you could have just as easily released me like all of the other people that you have so graciously helped throughout your life and all of the people that you continue to bless, even to this day. But, I will never take this or you for granted again. The rest of my life is vowed to protect, nurture, support, promote, lift up, and hold onto you. You are a gift from God. My gift from God. All I ever want is to be good to you, from here on out.

Love Always, Sam." Cheri was crying like she hadn't read that chapter of his book fifteen times. But, now, she was hearing HIM say it and seeing Mercedes led to the altar with Dwight on one arm and Kissy's harness in the other hand. Cluster in his little tux was cute too, though she tensed up when he got too close to her. She did not want dog hair anywhere near her, even though she had taken allergy medicine to try to help against it already.

Stacie was a bawling ball of emotions, crying and fanning herself with one hand. Joe dabbed her tears with his handkerchief and then jumped and frantically tried to push it back into his pocket when he realized that he accidentally got makeup on it (before the photos).

When Dwight gave Mercedes away for the second time, now, he gave her a huge hug and went to sit next to Nisha, Shannon and Shelby, in the parents' section up front. The kids were seated up there, too. Just so that they wouldn't have to try to stand still or whatever. The babies were in a playpen that Stacie decorated and left next to the wedding thrones at the altar photoshoot set.

Mercedes had the very babydoll that had gotten her the nickname Babydoll, attached to her bouquet. It was her something old. Sam had sent her a bouquet of little teddy bears as her something new… Tina had to take one of them to attach it to the big safety pin that Stacie had put together for the somethings borrowed and blue, because what in the world was he thinking? That she was going to have two huge bouquets and a dog?

Sam and she had worn these matching "Walk by faith, not by sight" bracelets and whenever she came to him and the altar, they clinked them together and smiled at the silent greeting.

The inside of the church was simple. White flowers, an all white altar for the proceeding photos, which Mercedes had sparkling sunglasses for. Stevie, Joe, Stacie and Cheri stood behind them, but out of the way. Kurt had Mercedes' ring for Sam and Lauren had Sam's ring for Mercedes. Their first friends (Lauren technically being Sam's first friend after he was freed), and all of their closest surrounding them. This time, Mercedes insisted that Sam go into this with his eyesight. For one thing, she didn't need any more proof that he wanted to be in things with her. She wanted him to experience all of these things in his way and then share with her how it felt, that way.

Whenever they went to light their unity candle, Shannon, helping to guide Mercedes' hand, Mercedes and Sam sang _The Prayer_ , to completion. A woman got out of the choirstand and ran around the church. Tanisha laughed and Snapchat it. That was the kind of stuff she walked into churches to see. Kurt very annoyedly directed Finn to go get her. Finn shook his head, from his seat with Babs and Beth. "Hallelujah. Joe, can you check on Sister Hitchens?" Sam asked, at the end of the song, since he still had a microphone. Kurt's eyes became saucers as a couple of other choir members went, so Joe stayed where he was.

But, that was a signal to the kids. Cowboy and Heaven both took off running, as well. Stevie quickly caught them half way down the aisle, grabbed one in each arm, gave them each a kiss on the nose and held on to them for the rest of the ceremony. "Got bored, huh?" He whispered. "I understand."

At the conclusion, the photo shoot was elegantly arranged around the thrones on the altar. They hadn't wanted Mercedes to have to go too far or do too much. She'd already had to learn steps to be able to navigate the church herself, but with Kissy and Cluster heading outside, as to not get hair on everything else, she had a wedding cane and let her friends assist her minimally for the photos that she wasn't going to be able to enjoy, but was happy to participate in for Sam and her sighted loved ones. These would be important to her children one day.

Kurt was finally alright after the photos and everything and while everyone else was going outside for the reception… he changed his entire outfit. He was in gold and black and everyone stared when he arrived. "You people made me sweat ruin my suit."

Stevie asked, "And you just happened to have some gold matador outfit in your SUV."

"A matador _wishes,"_ Kurt said.

.

Mercedes, Cheri, Stacie and the kids were at the bride's table with her and Sam. The other seats were arranged long ways and Tina and Quinn had set all of the places earlier. Of course, their old school friends were all at a table together. Family members were near each other, and such. She noticed that Stevie and Jake had made their own arrangements with Mason, Jane, Matt, Aphasia, Andrea, and her girlfriend and she came over. "Looks like trouble," Quinn joked. Aphasia smirked and stood to give her a hug, "You know that I'm trouble all on my own, so this group - that's more like trails and tribulation."

Quinn cupped her round belly and said, "You look like you're ready to burst!"

"Hoping that the trip back to New York makes him antsy. I don't care if he is born in the car, to be honest, if he'll just get out of there," she laughed.

They talked for a little while longer and Stevie stared at them, oddly.

"That's strange, right? Seeing two people that you brought together be like this?" Matt asked.

Stevie adjusted himself and shrugged, "I'm just always in awe that these beautiful women are alive and thriving, and grateful that my regrets about them aren't more… severe…"

Mason changed this uncomfortable subject with, "Is there dancing at this thing? Because my favorite part of a wedding is the dancing part."

Jane told him, "There's music, so I don't see why not?"

"But, it's at a church. They were doing that religious dancing inside, but I'm talking about like Soul Train line dancing."

She chuckled, "We should have never let you learn about Soul Train lines."

"Not if you didn't want me to obsessively love them and crave them at every party - no - you shouldn't have."

"The ladies all went out last night," Stevie said. "They partied enough for all of us."

"While I was watching children?" Mason asked.

"I'll take you dancing later, My Sweet," Stevie told him.

Mason pointed his hand at Stevie and told Jane, "He is the only one here who actually loves me."

.

Sam and Mercedes thanked everyone who visited their table and after the official time for the reception, told the guards that if somebody tried to come in, they could. His wife and children were in their fancy dress, all fed and all looked sleepy. "Is it alright if we leave first?" He asked.

"I think we're supposed to. Kurt's planning team is cleaning everything up. Why, are you ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah… I just realized that we never went on a honeymoon, though. Back and forth on tours doesn't count."

"I don't really like to travel that much. You know me. I have to reset a whole new room, learn a new place, figure out routes for a matter of days. Honestly, the best honeymoon that I could ever even think to have is just being bundled up with you and the babies with some scented candles lit and out of Heaven's reach, snuggling with the dogs and listening to some music or one of your stories. Where do I sign up for that?"

He played with her newest wedding ring and said, "You just did." They gathered up their little ones and he made a few rounds to say goodbye to people and they headed on home. Everybody else went out to The Hall for an afterparty.

Sam got Mercedes out of her dress and into her jammies. He and Heaven changed, and she took care of changing the twins and the dogs. "Sam… Is this just our normal life now? Weddings and births?"

"Why? You don't like weddings and births?"

"I love them, though they can get kind of tiring. We've had like… several in the past few years and probably will have another coming up soon if Jake and Marley keep going strong."

"Jake's wedding is THE LAST WEDDING that I intend to be this involved in. And also, Kurt is banned from it, FYI."

She laughed, "Do you not remember his and Blaine's wedding?"

"Of course I do! But… this wasn't his wedding…"

"He wasn't like this when he planned Cheri's wedding. Probably just because he thought this dream wedding ended with your bamboozle in the woods," she joked.

"I think about that everyday. I wonder, did she really want to do this, or did I put her so hard on the spot that she felt obligated."

"I did feel shocked and kind of rushed to a decision, but it was the best decision that I've ever made under pressure. You're my Mr. Amazing. We have three little Amazings, God willing you get your dream, five more to go (have mercy)."

"Babydoll… You do know that if you don't want anymore, I can live with these perfect three?"

"I know. I would love if I could give you your very naive but adorable dream 8. I guess we'll see how God decides to work this all out."

"He's already given me more than I have enough in me to thank him for.." He kissed her on the forehead and turned on the music.


End file.
